Blooming
by Thunder Explosion
Summary: Two couples and a surprising new friendship bloom under the night sky of Crocus during the second night of the Grand Magic Games. One-shot.


"Ah, that was a good meal" Natsu patted his stomach as he, Lucy, Wendy, Happy, and Carla walked back to their hotel room.

"I'm sure you got your fill, seeing as you ate twice as much as we did combined" Lucy said to him.

"Hey Wendy," Happy started "you're a dragon slayer just like Natsu and Gajeel, so how come you don't eat just as much as those two?"

Wendy shrugged. "I guess I just don't have as much of a grown appetite as those two."

"It's probably just because she isn't as much of a brute as those two" Carla stated.

Natsu started to laugh. "She called Gajeel a brute. Hahaha!" This caused the entire group to sweatdrop.

"Natsu, she was making just as much fun of you as him" Lucy said.

"Hey, don't compare me-!" Natsu started, but was cut off by Wendy.

"Who is that up there?"

The entire group looked toward the entrance of their inn after Wendy's statement. A girl with short white hair and dark eyes, wearing a green tank top and a white pair of shorts, stood leaning against the wall. Natsu let out a low growl. "It's that Saber chick."

Yukino turned her head at the arrival of the group from Fairy Tail and let a soft, albeit sad smile grace her lips. "I was waiting for all of you."

"What do you want?" The question left Natsu's lips in a very harsh tone towards her.

"I would like to speak to Lucy please" she answered him in her same soft tone.

"Me? Alright, come in with us." Natsu growled in annoyance at Lucy's answer, displeased with allowing a person from their sworn enemy's guild enter.

...

Meanwhile, Juvia was caught in the middle of a frigid tug of war between two certain shirtless ice mages.

"I never agreed to that bet Lyon. You're not taking one of our guild members after this tournament is done, no matter what the outcome is!" Gray was shouting at this point, making a huge scene in the middle of the bar.

"Whether you agree or not, it's still a gentleman's bet. The winning guild takes Juvia" Lyon calmly stated, giving Juvia's arm a firm tug.

"Hey, Juvia thinks she should still have a say in this" the water mage shouted at the two.

"Well of course you would like to come with me, after all, I would treat you right" Lyon said to her.

"Like hell you would!" Gray shouted.

Juvia started waving her arms again. "Make up your mind if you want to be with Juvia or Lyon already" she said to Gray.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!"

"While THAT may not be what's going on here" Lyon started "you really should make your feeling for Juvia clear by now."

Lyon let out a satisfied smirk as an awkward silence fell over the three, and subsequently the entire bar. Gray shook his head at the two who were staring at him. "Come on Gray, don't keep her waiting."

Gray just let out a huff and walked out of the bar.

...

"Hey wait up!" Natsu was storming out of the inn after the white haired celestial mage, Happy hot on his trail. A plethora of thoughts were assaulting Natsu's brain, such as why the girl would give up her keys during the tournament, or why Lucy, or what that gate that will change the world nonsense was all about? But the most prominent thought in his mind, was that despite being a member of Sabertooth, she wasn't a bad person, and he had to tell her that. By the time his thoughts raced through his head again, he had caught up to the woman he was chasing and she had turned around to face him.

In all honesty she was scared of him. He had been very cold to her when she had visited Lucy and was worried now that he had decided to chase her down. However, she was still able to find words to speak. "Natsu? What are you doing here?"

Natsu huffed, somewhat out of breath. "I wanted to come say I'm sorry."

Yukino looked shocked. "You're sorry? For what?"

"For thinking you were a bad person."

Yukino gave him a questioning glance, not entirely sure what he meant by that. Fortunately for her, Happy was able to answer her question. "You see, Natsu thought that since you were a part of Sabertooth that you must be a bad person. But after your meeting with Lucy, he had changed his mind about you."

Natsu scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess that's a way to say it. Sorry that I couldn't put it in better terms for you." He then flashed a smile at her, only to see that she had tears welling in her eyes. "Hey don't cry!"

"I-I just can't help it any more. You're the first person whose ever been truly nice to me." She began to sink to her knees, unable to stand due to the massive amount of shaking she was doing. Natsu caught her in his arms and slowly sank to the ground with her, but the tears didn't stop. "Ever since I was young I wanted to join Sabertooth and they finally let me in last year."

Happy spoke up, now perched on Natsu's shoulder, who still had Yukino wrapped in his arms. "I thought you were one of the five wizards that changed Sabertooth and made it strong like it is today?"

Yukino shook her head. "No, I was filling in for her since s-she was away on a job. I'm still a newbie. But they kicked me out!" Her tears returned to full on sobs as Happy and Natsu listened to her story.

"Kicked you out?" Natsu asked, rage building up in his voice.

Yukino nodded, tears still falling from her face. "I lost one time. Then the master kicked me out in front of the whole guild. H-he called me trash and threw grapes at me. Then he made me ta-take off all my clothes and remove my guild mark in front of e-everyone."

Natsu had a horrified look on his face. How could they do that to this poor girl? He was determined to make them pay for what they did to her. He released her from the hug and stood up. "No guild should make its family members cry." Yukino looked up at him as he spoke. He spoke quietly, but it wasn't enough to hide the rage in his voice. "Any guild that doesn't treat its members like family shouldn't be called a guild at all." With that, he walked away. He was going to Sabertooth and he was going to show them what comrades do for each other. What family does for each other.

And he was going to make them pay for hurting Yukino.

...

"Rough day?" Gray asked his armored friend when he approached her on the balcony she was standing at.

"Just a little" Erza answered him. "A lot of things on my mind."

Gray nodded. "I suppose that makes two of us. I was just caught in the middle of some crazy tug of war between Juvia and Lyon and I have no idea what the hell it was about."

Erza gave him a patronizing look. "Come on Gray, you really expect me to believe that you have no idea what ot was about? Surely you must realize how she feels about you by now."

"Tch. Like you have any room to talk" Gray countered.

Erza sighed. "Fine, you got me there. But seriously, don't you think that you should give her a clear cut answer already?"

"Funny, Lyon said the same thing. Come on, we should go back. It's getting late." Gray began to walk away.

"Gray, don't avoid the question."

"Look, I'm not trying to avoid it, okay. Just give me some time to think." And with that, the conversation was dropped as the two walked back to the inn. Unbeknownst to them, a blue haired professional spy had heard everything, and was now sulking away from the hotel where she was staying at.

...

Yukino had been walking around Crocus for an hour or so, thinking of her encounter with Natsu. Night had now completely fallen on the city as she aimlessly strolled. Never in her life since she was separated from her sister had she had someone be so kind to her, even for that short of a time, and it had not left her mind since then.

She had took in every single detail of him, his rosy pink hair, warm onyx eyes, heart warming smile, his voice, outfit, everything. Their conversation was on repeat in her head as she was constantly replaying it.

And that's when a loud boom interrupted her thoughts. She rushed toward the sound of the explosion, only to realize it had come from the hotel where the Sabertooth guild was staying.

"No way.." Yukino trailed off, rushing toward the building.

...

"WHERE'S YOUR MASTER!" Natsu shouted as he tore through hordes of Sabertooth wizards.

All of the guild's members had finally made it to the lobby to see Natsu tearing the place apart. "Natsu what the hell are you doing?" Sting asked in a panicked voice.

Natsu really didn't care to answer him though. He just repeated himself as he punched a few more mages. Finally, he heard a loud stomp behind him.

"You looking for me boy?" Jiemma asked in a deep voice.

Natsu turned around, fury in his eyes. "Yeah. I heard you kicked someone out for losing once" he growled.

'He's here about Yukino?' Rogue thought to himself.

"Yeah, what of it?" Jiemma growled back. "There's no place for losers in this guild."

Natsu smirked. "Alright then, if I beat you, you're out of this guild."

This caused Jiemma to let out a booming laugh. "Please kid. You're not even worth my time. Dobengal, take care of him" he motioned to the man in a ninja outfit to go after Natsu.

Dobengal rushed at Natsu with rainbow colored blades forming from his arms. Natsu would admit he was quick, but nothing that he couldn't take as he punched him in the gut with a flaming fist, sending him flying into the door. "MY FIGHT IS NOT WITH YOU!"

"Master, allow me-" Sting started.

"No. This kid wants me to kick his ass so bad, then I'll do it." Natsu needed no more words as he rushed Jiemma. At first, Natsu's punches had no effect as Jiemma was easily blocking them with his hands. However, Natsu delivered a flaming uppercut to him once he saw the opening and began wailing on him punch after punch. Natsu then jumped up and delivered a flaming kick to Jiemma's chest that sent him flying across the room.

"So it seems I underestimated you a little bit" Jiemma said, a dark aura radiating off of him. "Let me show you my true power." The hotel began to shake as he began to cast a powerful spell.

"So you wanna quit holding back, huh? Fine by me." Natsu activated his Lightning Flame Dragon mode and let loose a powerful roar, while Jiemma shot a beam of dark energy at Natsu. However, both attacks were dispelled and a young woman appeared in what should have been the epicenter of the attack.

"Now father, I don't think it would look too good if you were to go and crush another guild's contestant in the Grand Magic Games.

"Minerva?" Orga spoke out, voicing his confusion.

"I don't know who you are, but GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!" Natsu shouted.

"My my, is that any way to talk to a lady such as myself? Besides, I would suggest you back off. This situation doesn't look good for either of us." Minerva then used her spacial magic to make a bound up crying Happy appear in her arms. "And if you don't, then I guess I'll just cut this little furball's throat."

Natsu let out a low growl. "Fine. Give me Happy back." Minerva tossed him the exceed, which he quickly untied and held close. "Everything will be okay now, I promise." He then began to walk out, but stopped at the doorway. "How you people treated Yukino today was unacceptable. If you call yourself a guild, take care of your family. That's all I came here to say."

By the time Natsu had made it out of the hotel it had begun raining, so Natsu took off running down the street, only to stop when he realized Yukino was standing right there.

"Were you the one..who attacked Sabertooth?"

Natsu scratched his head while he spoke "I guess I didn't realize how loud it was. Hahaha."

Yukino looked puzzled as she began to walk with him. "I understand you were mad, but why did you attack them?" Her voice carried no hostility, she was just genuinely curious.

"Because I didn't want anything like that to happen to anymore good wizards like you. No one deserves to be put through something like that. You're strong" he said to her.

"How am I strong?" Yukino asked.

"Most people wouldn't be able to get back up after something like that. They would just quit on everything. But you picked yourself up and kept moving."

"If that was the case I would've been the one to go and take them on like you did."

"That's not right" Yukino's gaze shot to him when he said that. "I did it because I was pissed about how they did that, while you were calm enough to just move on. But I also did it so nothing like that would happen in that guild again" Natsu smiled at her. "I wouldn't want you to worry about your friends after all."

Yukino frowned. "I don't really think that I had too many friends in Sabertooth."

Natsu kept smiling. "I'm sure you did. After all, I didn't really pick up too much of a bad vibe from anyone there. Other than your master and that one girl who showed up later there. What was her name? Mini-mall?"

Yukino's face dropped. "Minerva?"

"Yeah that's it" Natsu said excitedly. His face soon darkened though. "She's the one who kidnapped Happy."

"Natsu, I would be careful of her. She is very vicious after all. She would do anything to win." There was a pause between the two before Yukino spoke again. "Well I should probably be going now. I don't wanna keep you out in this rain after everything you've done for me today. Thank you very much." Yukino turned to walk away, but Natsu grabbed her hand, quickly but gently.

"Do you have anywhere to go tonight?"

"Well, I was just going to stay at a hotel or something and then go home tomorrow" she admitted.

"You do realize there will be almost no rooms available with the festival in town, right? You're coming to stay with us."

"But Natsu, I don't want to impose."

"Bullshit. You're a friend and you need a place to stay. It's not an imposition at all" he said to her.

"A friend?" Yukino asked timidly.

"Yes, you're my friend. And friends help each other" Natsu said.

Then, Yukino did something that Natsu realized he loved. For the first time since they met, she smiled. "Well then, since we're friends, I guess it would be rude for me to not accept your offer, right?"

"There, now you're getting it" Natsu had the biggest grin plastered on his face as he continued to lead them toward Honeybone.

"Alright, but can we hurry? I kind of want to get out of this gloomy rain."

After Yukino spoke, a loud crying noise broke them out of their thoughts. Natsu, although noticing the familiar scent, didn't really pay too much attention to it as he was enveloped in Yukino, but now he was tracking it. Holding a sleeping Happy with one arm and Yukino's hand in his, he turned into an alley. Then, everything clicked for him as he saw the blunette sitting on the ground. "Juvia?"

"Who is that?" Yukino asked.

"A member of our guild. Juvia what the hell are you doing out here?"

Juvia looked up from her position sitting on the ground. "Natsu? And aren't you that girl from Sabertooth?"

"Formerly" Yukino answered quickly.

"Why are you upset? After all, this is your rain, isn't it?" Natsu asked her.

"It's Gray" Juvia answered in a whisper.

Natsu just shook his head. "Should've figured popsicle dick was the cause of this. What'd he do?"

Juvia, a slightly mortified look appearing on her face due to Natsu's latest nickname for her beloved, answered "He just won't tell me how he feels. He never wants to give Juvia a straight answer about whether he wants Juvia or not, and I'm just tired of it."

"I know how to fix this" Natsu said to her.

Juvia's head snapped back up to him, her imagination running rampent again with all her fantasies about Gray. She finally calmed down enough to see Natsu and Yukino's horrified gazes on her, probably due to the creepy lovestruck grin on her face. She straightened her coat with her hands before speaking again. "How Natsu?"

"Beat the crap out of him" he said simply.

"Is that your answer to everything?" Yukino asked him.

"Juvia could never hurt her precious Gray!"

"Okay, I'll do it then. I'm still all fired up about the incident with Sabertooth. Besides, Gray is the kinda guy who won't listen to something unless you beat it into his head a few times."

"What happened with Sabertooth?" Juvia asked.

Yukino lowered her head while Natsu spoke. "Let's just say I had to teach them a little lession. Kind of like how I need to with your little boy toy."

Juvia looked stunned. "Juvia never thought that Natsu of all people would be helping her with her love life" she whispered to herself.

"Hey Juvia, you're gonna get left behind!" Natsu hollered back to her. Juvia had been so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't realize that Natsu had walked off with Yukino.

"You're really kind, Natsu" Yukino said as she leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You show it in kind of a backwards way sometimes, but you are a very kind person."

...

The trio plus the sleeping exceed finally made it back to Honeybone to find most of the lights off and people sleeping. However, that wasn't the case when they got back to Natsu's room. Natsu could tell this immediately seeing as the instant he stepped into his room the tip of a sword was pressed against his neck.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Erza screamed.

"And why did you bring a member of Sabertooth back with you?" Gray asked.

"We also heard a rumor that Sabertooth's hotel was attacked. That was you wasn't it Natsu? Tell me where you've been!" Erza showed no signs of removing the sword.

Yukino and Juvia fully entered the room as Natsu began to try and explain everything to the group that was staring him down, which included Wendy and Lucy. "Okay, I'll explain everything, but there's something I have to do first, and I need you to let me do it Erza. I need you to trust me." Natsu firmly met Erza's gaze for a good minute before she said anything.

"Fine" she said, removing her sword and sending it back to her armory space. Natsu handed Happy to Yukino and removed his hand from hers before walking over to Gray.

"What is it flame bra-" Gray was cut off by Natsu's fist meeting his jaw. Juvia squirmed at the contact and the thought of a bruise on Gray's face, but managed to hold her arm up to assure Erza that it was okay.

"Give her an answer!" Natsu screamed as another fist met Gray's jaw, knocking him to the floor.

"What are you talking about?" Gray asked as he reached from his back to kick Natsu in the gut.

"I'm talking about Juvia" he said, ducking one of Gray's punches.

"Still, what do you know?" Gray asked as he received a knee in his gut.

"That you just keep leading her on and won't tell her how you really feel!" Natsu was still shouting as Gray delivered an uppercut to Natsu's chin. As Natsu was falling back, he managed to deliver a swift kick to Gray's chin as well, and both of them fell back on the floor.

After a minute of them panting, both being out of breath, Gray finally spoke up. "I care about her a lot. I really like her. However, I just don't know if I could handle a relationship with her given how smothering she can be."

Juvia took in the words and sat down on the floor next to where Gray was laying. "Juvia is sorry for making you feel uncomfortable around her at times. It's just the only way Juvia knows how to express herself sometimes."

"That's the problem though. I don't want you to smother me but at the same time I don't want you to change who you are for me-" Juvia placed her finger on Gray's lips.

"Gray, you are the man who sealed away Juvia's darkness. Juvia would do anything for you."

It was that moment where Gray finally returned all of Juvia's feelings for her. He didn't know if it was the fact that he finally understood what he meant to Juvia or if it was the fact that she reminded him of what Ur did for him, but he finally returned her feelings for her as he sat up and pulled her into a hug. "If that's the case, then I will never leave you alone" he said into her ear.

Erza and Lucy both had tears in their eyes at the display of love, while Wendy was still a bit too young to understand what was going on. Erza looked over to Natsu, only to realize that he had stood up and was now holding hands with Yukino. She quickly summoned her sword and held it to Natsu's throat once again. "Explain."

...

Once Natsu had set everything straight with Erza, the group began to celebrate their new couples, along with Yukino being offered to join Fairy Tail by Erza. Then Lucy broke out the cards and the booze and they began to take turns playing euchre and poker. Natsu and Gray, remembering what happened last time the girls all got drunk, decided to pound most of it as fast as they could. Luckily, they could hold their booze a hell of a lot better than most of the girls, so they weren't really drunk. This time, the girls also had the decency to keep it away from Wendy.

The night was finally winding down and Natsu and Yukino were the last two awake. Wendy was the first to go, Lucy and Erza following shortly after. Gray and Juvia stayed awake for awhile, but they went to bed together obviously. Now, Natsu and Yukino were finally crawling into bed, relaxing from the event filled day they had, both sliding in around Happy.

Natsu wrapped his arm around Yukino. "So, are you my girlfriend now?" Natsu asked her.

"Well I suppose. If you want me to be your girlfriend."

"Remember what we talked about earlier? Answer like you're supposed to" Natsu said, a playful smirk growing on his face.

Yukino felt the smile grow uncontrollably on her face as well. "Okay. Yes, I am your girlfriend now."

"That's better" Natsu said, closing his eyes and pulling her close.

"You liiiiiiike her" Happy said from under the covers.

Natsu almost jumped off the bed. "Happy! Have you been awake this whole time?"

"No, I fell asleep once we got back here. But you liiiiike her" the exceed continued his teasing.

"Yes. Yes I do" Natsu said while looking at Yukino.

"You two sure are cute together" Yukino said to the friends.

"I like her better than you already. She's nice to me" Happy teased from under the covers.

Yukino let out a playful laugh. "Don't get any funny ideas cat. She's mine" he said, once again pulling Yukino into him.

"Aww, you're sweet" she said as Natsu rolled his head over and gave her a kiss.

"I'm really glad I got to meet you today Yukino" he said.

"I'm really glad too. Goodnight Natsu."

"Goodnight Yukino."

...

A/N: So this is easily the longest piece I've ever written. I hope it didn't seem like it drug on too much. This is actually the result of three separate ideas I had for mini one-shots coming together, combined with the fact that I was really bored last night, I kind of hit a block with my main story, and this site needs more NatsuxYukino fics.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. Please leave a review and tell me what you think :)

Disclaimer: if I really owned Fairy Tail I'd be writing this on my yacht on the Pacific Ocean right now. I'm not on a yacht right now so I don't own Fairy Tail.


End file.
